It seems like not a day goes by without a story of hacking or cyber interference. But an overnight cyber attack on a number of countries across the globe has devastated key corners of the internet – including government and the private sector.

The attack has hit a number of countries, including the United Kingdom, US, Russia, India, China, Italy, Spain and Egypt.

No word yet on any potential impacts in Australia, although the following map indicates it was largely concentrated in Europe.

In Spain, the national telecom company has been infected, while hospitals in the UK were hit by the attack which undermined their software platforms.

As yet, there’s little indication as to the source of the hack or whether it was politically motivated, with authorities still piecing together the scale of the damage. Overall, it is estimated that there was a total of 45,000 attacks in 75 countries.

Edward Snowden laid the blame for the attack at the hands of the NSA, who said that the NSA knew about the potential for the attack long ago but effectively decided to do nothing.

Lost At E Minor will keep you updated as more information comes out, particularly with reference to Australia.